I was told that in Australia, once a PhD degree has been awarded, the
award can be formally challenged any time within the following decade.
When challenged, there is a formal process to answer the challenge. One
of my late friends was challenged because his views on economics did not
fit the established pattern. He had to defend against the challenge and,
fortunately, was able to do so.
I would like to see this same pattern instituted in the US (with some
safeguards against trivial challenges), because I know there are plenty of
abuses going on, and I believe it would upgrade the quality of doctoral
dissertations with a minimum of cost.
Another interesting pattern in Britain precludes the dissertation
supervisor from the examining committee.
John N. Warfield
Johnwfield@aol.com
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>